Alexander Huber on Choktoi Ri

Still crazy after all these years. This title of a song by Paul Simon could also stand above the lives of many climbers – if they have survived their daring adventures into old age. Being a little crazy – and I mean that in a positive way – is just part of the game. Alexander Huber, the younger of the two Huber brothers, will celebrate his 50th birthday this Sunday.

The list of his successes is long. Thus Alexander opened several rock climbing routes in the eleventh degree, climbed (with his two years older brother Thomas, Toni Gutsch and the US-American Conrad Anker) for the first time through the West Face of the 7,108-meter-high Latok II in the Karakoram in 1997, stood one year later without bottled oxygen on the summit of the eight-thousander Cho Oyu or climbed free solo difficult routes in the Alps such as the “Hasse-Brandler-Diretissima” through the North Face of Cima Grande (in 2002) or the “Schweizerführe” at the 3,838-meter high Grand Capucin in the Montblanc region (in 2008). Last summer, Huber and his German climbing partner Fabian Buhl opened a new 2,200-meter-long route via the South Buttress of the 6,166-meter-high Choktoi Ri in the Karakoram (see video below).

Alexander lives with his wife and three children on a farm near Berchtesgaden. I called him a few days before his big birthday.

Alexander, you are about to turn 50. Is that a day like any other for you?

Alexander at the trade fair “Outdoor” in 2017

It’s certainly not a day like any other, because I’m well aware that another decade has passed. But it won’t be a special birthday for me, I already know the feeling from my previous big birthdays.

If you compare yourself today with Alexander, who was 25 years old, do you still recognize yourself?

I still absolutely recognize myself as I was then. You go your own way in life. There are many things that change, some things remain the same. Maybe I’d like to be 25 again, but my sense of reality tells me that it won’t happen that way. And it’s not like everything was better at the age of 25. There are also things that are better at 50.

Have your priorities changed?

The priorities are constantly changing. This is a completely normal process in life. It would be a miracle if it wasn’t so.

Have you become more cautious?

Yes, in the sense that I no longer do the wild actions like at the age of 25 or 35. That also has a lot to do with my sense of reality. I know that I pulled things off at a level I don’t have anymore. That means I can’t top the things I’ve already realized anyway. And that’s why I just take it easier and do the things that are possible for me.

Last summer you opened with Fabian Buhl a new route via the South Buttress of the six-thousander Choktoi Ri. How good did it feel – after some failed expeditions in the Karakoram?

Such a success always feels good. It’s fun to reach the summit. That’s the reason why you set off at all. But it is quite normal in the life of a climber that there are actions that don’t lead to success. Especially on larger expeditions, I have a success rate that is well below 50 percent. If you can’t cope with that, you have no business going to these mountains with ambitious goals. If anybody claims to be a “Mister 100 Percent Success”, I can only say: Well, then he never really tried to push himself to the limit. I prefer to keep pushing my limits and taking a setback from time to time instead of trying things that are easy to get.

But on Choktoi Ri, it ran smoothly for you.

Yes, although we had a difficult season due to the meteorological conditions. Also in the Karakoram you notice the impact of global warming. There was a lot of bad weather this year. But in terms of tactics we performed extremely well, so that in the end the result was success. Only a single wrong tactical decision would have meant that we would not have made it. We did well, but also had the bit of luck that you need.

Fabian is 28 years old, more than 20 years younger than you. Were you already a little bit in the role of the mentor, who passes on his experience?

With Fabian Buhl on top of Choktoi Ri

Sure, that’s the role you automatically take on. Of course I am a mentor of Fabian. But in the end I was looking for a competent climbing partner for my idea. One of Fabian’s strong points is that he is incredibly motivated, has incredible fun while climbing and is not afraid of anything, he really enjoys every effort. That’s exactly the kind of partner you need on a mountain. This is the only way it can work.

Was it perhaps also a model for you for the next few years to be en route in a team of only two?

I’ve done that before, so it’s not a new model for me. In principle, I prefer to be on the road in a team as small as possible. But it also depends on the goal. To tackle, for example, Latok II in a team of two, would almost mean to ignore the danger of the mountain. If something happens, you have only a minimum safety reserve.

Is there a highlight in your climbing career that stands out and that you particularly like to remember?

I am happy that I was able to set my highlights in very different fields of climbing and that I have always kept alpinism alive and interesting for me. It all started for me on top level with alpine sport climbing. Today I can’t imagine being a sports climber with the same enthusiasm again, it would probably have become much too boring for me. But if you look at what alpinism is all about – be it in Antarctica, Patagonia, the Yosemite Valley, the Dolomites, doing speed climbing, free solo climbing, difficult alpine routes, expeditions, eight-thousander, sports climbing in the eleventh-degree – then all you can say is: Cool to have such a sport that can be interesting on top level even after thirty years.

Extreme climbing, here in Mount Asgard on Baffin Island

Let’s look ahead, what goals do you still set yourself as a climber?

I only set myself medium-term goals. In the long run I can only say: I want to be happy with what I do. But what exactly will that be? I don’t know. It will happen. I am lucky to have come through my climbing almost injury-free. I’m still healthy, nothing hurts me, and that’s why I continue to go to the mountains. But of course it can look completely different from one day to the next.

Is there already a concrete project for 2019?

The only thing I know for sure is that I will not go on expedition. I still want to climb various routes here at home in the Alps. But the concrete project for 2019 is not to travel to the Himalayas or the Karakoram.

And how will you spend your birthday?

Like every year. I’ll celebrate my birthday with my friends.

On the six-thousander Panmah Kangri

“My tactic of arriving later in the season didn’t work this time,” Thomas Huber tells me after his return from the Karakoram, adding that it was a “fully mixed” expedition. “It started incredibly well, but unfortunately it didn’t end the same way.” As reported before – the 51-year-old, the older of the two Huber brothers, had left at the beginning of August with 33-year-old South Tyrolean Simon Gietl, 59-year-old German climber Rainer Treppte and French cameraman Yannick Boissenot towards Latok I in order to tackle the 7,145-meter-high mountain via the north side.

Meeting with his brother

“In the beginning everything was in a flow,” reports Thomas. The journey was without any problems, and at the entrance to the Choktoi valley there was a very nice and emotional moment: “We met my brother Alexander and his climbing partner Fabian Buhl, who had experienced a great adventure on Choktoi Ri and were all smiles.” After the meeting with the two climbers, who started their way home, Thomas Huber and Co. pitched up their base camp.

After one week on top of a 6000er

Thomas Huber with Simon Gietl, Rainer Treppte and Yannick Boissenot (from r. to l.)

For acclimatization, the team then climbed the 6,046-meter-high Panmah Kangri. “It was going perfectly. After a week on site, we stood on our first six-thousander, the next stage was Latok III,” says Thomas. “We climbed up to Camp 1 at 5,700 meters and then down again.” Their plan was to climb via the South Pillar to the summit at 6,946 meters. “We calculated three days if everything went well and the conditions were good.”

Three weeks of dense clouds

But it turned out quite differently. The weather changed – and remained bad. “We didn’t see the summit for three weeks,” says Huber. Dense clouds were hanging over the Choktoi Valley, it snowed. Summit attempts were out of question. Once, says Thomas, they climbed up again to Camp 1 on Latok III but returned due to snowfall.

A lot of snow in the wall

North Face of Latok I, on the right the North Ridge

Huber, Gietl, Treppte and Boissenot also explored the approach to the not yet successfully climbed North Face of Latok I, “our actual destination this summer”, as Thomas says. “However, we totally rejected our plan.“ The wall was “snow-covered like in winter”, there was a lot of spindrift. “The Koreans and Russians who had previously attempted the North Face this summer had been injured by avalanches,” says Thomas. “Now I understand why.“

Touch and go!

The risks in the wall were not calculable, that already applied to the access, says Thomas. “The North Face seems invincible. If you go there, you have to say ‚Good-bye life‘ – and then touch and go!” According to Thomas, already the seracs on the way to the access, are “very active. You simply need luck there.“ Their possible alternative goal, the direct route via the North Ridge to the summit, is feasible, says Thomas – but not under the conditions that prevailed at the beginning of September.

Great atmosphere in the team

“We tried everything that was possible and justifiable from a reasonable climbers’s point of view,” Thomas Huber sums up. “More couldn’t be done, we simply have to accept that. It certainly wasn‘t the last time we were in the Choktoi valley. “I just like it over there,“ says Thomas. „We had a good time and a great atmosphere in the team. That’s what I took home with me.”

Luka Strazar, Tom Livingstone, Ales Cesen (from l. to r.)

It is one of this year’s most spectacular successes on the highest mountains in the world: The two Slovenians Ales Cesen (36 years old) and Luka Strazar (29) and the British Tom Livingstone (27) managed the only second ascent of the 7,145-meter-high, extremely difficult Latok I in the Karakoram – the first ascent from the north side at all. Since the legendary first attempt in 1978 by the Americans Jeff and George Henry Lowe, Michael Kennedy and Jim Donini via the North Ridge, who were forced back by a storm about 150 meters below the summit, this task had been a too hard nut to crack for about 30 expeditions. ”The ridge itself remains a challenge for the future,” said Tom Livingstone modestly in an interview with the British Mountaineering Council (BMC).

Deviated from the North Ridge

The route of the successful trio

In the upper part of the mountain the trio left the North Ridge, climbed over an ice field to the right towards the West Col and then crossed to the left through the North Face to the highest point. “Our priority was climbing the mountain from the north side, doing that via the ridge was the second priority,” Tom said. For safety reasons, they decided to deviate from the route via the ridge. Livingstone recalled in this context the fatal fall of Russian climber Sergey Glazunov while abseiling from the upper part of the North Ridge and the subsequent helicopter rescue of his team mate Alexander Gukov. The trio had followed the drama of the two Russians during their acclimatization phase.

“Scottish conditions” at the summit

Strazar in the middle part of the North Ridge

Tom reported on consistently poor bivouac sites on small ledges in the snow: “We didn’t sleep much over six nights on the mountain. In terms of difficulty it wasn’t super-hard but the length of the route, the altitude and the sleeplessness made it feel very strenuous.” According to Livingstone’s words, there were “Scottish conditions” at the highest point of Latok I: very snowy with poor visibility. “There was no enthusiastic celebration at the summit, because we knew that we had only managed the half way,” expedition leader Ales Cesen reported in an interview with the broadcaster RTV Slovnija. “Only when we were back on the glacier below the wall, we shouted with joy and hugged.”

“More than just well done”

Luka just before the point where the route bends off the north ridge

German top climber Alexander Huber – who was tackling at the same time together with his 27-year-old compatriot Fabian Buhl the South Buttress of the 6166-meter-high Choktoi Ri, located near Latok I (both want to report their experiences shortly) – bows to Cesen’s, Strazar’s and Livingstone’s performance. “More than just well done,” the 49-year-old commented on the success on Instagram.

His older brother Thomas Huber (51) was at the time of the coup by the Slovenian-British trio with his climbing partners Rainer Treppte (59), South Tyrolean Simon Gietl and French cameraman Yannick Boissenot still on their way to Latok I. Their destination too: the northern side of the seven-thousander. Before their departure, Thomas had left open to me whether they wanted to tackle the North Ridge or the also still unclimbed North Face.

P.S.: Because of my vacation, which has meanwhile unfortunately ended, this report comes a few days later than you are used to from me.